Coca-Cola Cut This Gay Wedding Scene From Irish Ad

Thursday

Jan 2, 2014 at 4:55 PM

Aaron Taube

Gay rights activists are fuming at Coca-Cola after the soda giant removed a scene depicting a gay marriage celebration from the Irish version of a video ad that had included the scene in the versions shown in Norway and the United Kingdom.

The "Reasons to Believe" ad alternates images of anger and violence with those of peace and joy to communicate that while bad things do happen in the world, there are plenty of good things, as well.

The UK and Norwegian versions of the ad showed a joyous wedding celebration of a marriage between two men, but the Irish gay publication Eile Magazine noticed the scene was missing from the ad when it was brought to Ireland. Instead, the Irish version showed an interracial marriage.

A Coca-Cola spokesperson told the Irish news publication TheJournal.ie that the Irish ad did not include the gay wedding celebration because gay marriage is not legal in Ireland.

"We wanted each ad to be relevant and valid for its own market," the spokesperson said.

Eile Magazine then reported that the footage used in the UK and Norway ads actually came from a civil union in Australia, where gay marriage is also not yet legal. Further, Eile Magazine said Coca-Cola's defense was "untrue" on the grounds gay marriage is not legal in the entirety of the United Kingdom because the practice is still prohibited in Scotland and Northern Ireland, even if it is allowed in England and Wales.

Here's the UK version of the ad, including the celebration scene:

And here's the Irish version without it:

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